Fairygodboss Of The Week: Allison Esposito
Allison Esposito, founder of Tech Ladies - which supports thousands of women in tech - has some fabulous career advice: "Build your network before you need it, work hard, and be nice to people."
Fairygodboss of the Week: Allison Esposito
Founder - Tech Ladies
New York, NY
FGB: Tell us a little about your career. How did you get to where you are now?
AE: I've been in tech for about six years. I started as a copywriter at Foursquare and learned how to shape the brand voice of a product. I ran marketing at a smaller startup called Oyster which was later acquired by Google. Then I worked at Google for a while on Google Play before leaving to run Tech Ladies full-time!
FGB: What is an accomplishment that you are proud of?
AE: Tech Ladies is a community of 7,000 women in tech who support each other and I'm super proud of what we've built so far. Women in the group have landed their dream jobs, negotiated pay raises worth thousands of dollars, and provided endless advice and assistance with each other. It's inspiring to see!
FGB: What is a challenge that you've faced and overcome?
AE: One of the biggest challenges with Tech Ladies is that we're bootstrapped and we've grown faster than we expected. So I'm learning on the fly how to hire out for help in certain areas to make sure we don't have to say no to any great opportunities that come our way due to "bandwidth" problems. Growing fast is a blessing but it is also a huge challenge. Thank goodness we have a great group to hire from which makes finding the right people very easy!
Lightning Round
FGB: What is your karaoke song?
AE: Any 90s hip hop. My secret talent is that I can rap, but only during karaoke.
FGB: What book would you bring with you on a desert island?
AE: Harry Potter!
FGB: What is the #1 career tip you'd like to share with other women who want to have successful careers like you?
AE: My biggest piece of career advice is to build your network before you need it, and maintain helping people even when your career is going great. There's no job security anymore, so the closest thing you can have is a strong, supportive network of people who can help you rebound when you need a new job.
And my biggest overall tip is to work hard and be nice to people. It sounds simple but there's nothing that can replace hard work. And being nice is such a key element because I've seen a lot of people step on others to get to the top and it always ends up working against them later on.
Fairygodboss is all about women helping other women. So each week, we celebrate a woman who makes a difference in other women’s careers. Is there a woman who has made a difference in your career? Celebrate and thank her by nominating her here.
Why women love us:
- Daily articles on career topics
- Jobs at companies dedicated to hiring more women
- Advice and support from an authentic community
- Events that help you level up in your career
- Free membership, always